Mechanism for operating and releasing sliding doors



18, 1942. D. H. Mosm MECHANISM FOR OPERATING AND RELEASING SLIDING DOORS Filed June 10, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 avwmvfm ,Da'vidHMrga/n,

Patented Aug. 18, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MECHANISIVI FOR. OPERATING AND RELEAS- ING SLIDING DOORS David H. Morgan, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to Truscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a

corporation of Michigan 8 Claims.

This invention relates to sliding doors, and has particular reference to novel means for placing the door' in operative or inoperative relation with respect to its actuating mechanism.

Sliding doors for airplane hangars and the like are usually supported at their bottom on suitable tracks or guides to facilitate shifting, while the mechanism for operating the same is placed over head. In the present invention, the operating means consists primarily of a power driven cable formed into a loop at the door leaf through the use of a pair of idler sheaves at the top of the door and a third sheave adjustably mounted in a conveniently accessible location near the bottom of the door, said unit including means for releasably connecting the door with the loop in the cable. Under normal operating conditions the door is connected to the loop adjacent the third sheave so that as the cable is moved by an electric motor or other source of power, the door may be shifted to open or close the opening. However, in the event of the failure of the power source, the construction of the present invention is such that it will be possible to quickly release the connection and enable the door to be operated by hand.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the invention is to provide novel loop-forming means for the cable which enables the door leaf to be connected and disconnected in a reliable and practical manner with the cable which operates the door.

Another object is to provide a novel support for the lower sheave which not only permits of maintaining the loop taut at all times, but also includes novel means adapted to be controlled by an operator or attendant for quickly effecting the gripping or releasing of the cable so that the door leaf may be readily actuated by the cable or disengaged therefrom for manual movement.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully illustrated, described and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation illustrating a single leaf sliding door and its operating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view illustratin the location of the idler sheaves at the top of the door which assist in forming the loop in the cable at the particular door leaf to be actuated.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the release mechanism and sheave near the bottom of the door over which the lower end of the loop in the cable passes.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be observed that the door A, which may be of any conventional type suitable for the purpose, is mounted to slide at its bottom edge on suitable tracks or guides B, or the like. The top of the door is preferably provided centrally thereof with a pair of idler wheels or sheaves C, while the lower portion of the door, at a convenient height to be reached by an attendant, is provided with what may be conveniently termed a third sheave or idler pulley D.constituting a part of a loop adjusting and operators control assembly or unit D, which also includes releasable cable gripping means, as will presently appear.

The operating means for the door preferably consists of an endless cable E which passes over the guide sheaves or pulleys F located substantially adjacent opposite ends of the door opening. The cable E is adapted to be operated by an electric motor or other prime mover G, 50 that the cable may be continuously moved as long as power is supplied thereto. If the door leaf is firmly connected with one leg of the loop of the cable formed by the idlers CC and the sheave or pulley D, the door will move with the cable. On the other hand, if the door leaf is disconnected from the cable, it may be freely moved independently of the cable.

The sheave D preferably has its aXle or shaft I mounted in the adjustable bracket plates 2--2. These plates are flanged as indicated at 3 and are provided with vertical slots 3a which are long enough and wide enough to permit relative vertical and horizontal adjustment of the plates when the flanges 3 are supported on the door frame by the bolts 4. At the point where the plates 2 are to be installed, the door frame is provided with a series of vertically spaced bolt holes 4a for receiving the bolts so that the plate 2 and the sheave D carried thereby may be roughly adjusted in a selected position. While the bolts 4 are loosely inserted in the openings in, and the flanges 3 are assembled against the face of a part of the door frame, the plates 2 are free to be vertically adjusted because of the slots 3a in the flanges, and may also be laterally adjusted toward and from each other by the bolts 5 because said slots are wide enough to permit relative lateral or horizontal adjustment. For the purpose of finally setting the plates 2 before tightening the bolts 4, and to insure the proper positioning of the sheave D to take up slack in the loop, the said axle or shaft I of the sheave, which is mounted in the plates 2, supports or carries a dependent substantially U-shaped yoke, including the vertical arms 8. The transverse web to of this yoke is engaged by externally threaded bolt I intended to be anchored by the nuts 8 to a horizontal frame part 9 of the door. The bolt 1 may be moved downwardly by manipulating the nuts 8 and thereby moving the plates 22 so as to cause the sheave D to pull the loop taut or, when desired, the bolt may be released to put slack in the loop, if, for example, the cable is to be removed. When the sheave or pulley D and the plates 2 are properly set or adjusted in a selected vertical position by the 'bolt 1, and the proper lateral spacing of the plates 2 has been effected by the bolts 5, the bolts 44 may be tightened to finally hold the bracket and lower sheave in set position.

For the purpose of connecting and disconnecting the door leaf with the cable, the release and gripping mechanism designated generally as H is provided. As will be apparent from Figs. 3 and 4, this mechanism preferably includes a pair of cable clamping and releasing bars 10 which are mounted on the bolts 5 and are provided on their outer faces with the fulcrum pads ll. These fulcrum pads o-r lugs II .have their inner ends rounded or curved as shown in Fig. 4, so as to more or less rockably engage the inner faces of the plates 22, so that when the opposite ends of the clamping and releasing bars I are moved toward and from each other they will alternately exert a gripping and releasing action on the cable E entrained between the grooved inner faces of the bars.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the means for expanding and contracting the bars l0lfl consists of an angular lever member providing a handle or hand grip portion l2 and an operating shaft or shank portion 13 which is preferably threaded, as indicated at Hi, to engage with a nut l welded or otherwise secured to the outer face of one of the bars Ill. The shank I3 of the operating lever is also provided, adjacent the outer face of the other bar ID, with a suitable fixed abutment I6. Conveniently this abutment may be a nut and washer, keyed, welded or otherwise secured to the shank l3. It will thus be apparent that by rotating or turning the handle I2, the right hand threaded portion M, operating in the nut I15, will .cause the nut 15 and the abutment It to move toward each other when the handle [2 is turned in a clockwise direction, or alternatively, when the handle is turned in an anti-clockwise direction, the parts l5 and IE will move apart and permit the cable clamping bars l%-l0 to separate and release the cable E.

Under normal conditions the cable clamping bars Ill-4E3 are in gripping or clamp-ing relation .to the cable. Thus, if the endless cable is moved, the door will be compelled to slide horizontally on its tracks B with the movement of the cable because of the fixed relation of the door to the cable. On the other hand, if for any reason the cable cannot be operated by the prime mover or source of power provided, the handle [2 of the control device may be manipulated to permit the clamping bars |Elll to spread apart and thus free the door from the cable and permit the same to be manually shifted on its tracks or guides. As previously indicated, the clamping and releasing device is conveniently located so that an attendant may readily manipulate the handle l2 and thus quickly render the door capable of automatic or manual operation as conditions require.

It will, of course, be understood that the number of door leaves used will depend upon the width of the opening, and that each leaf has its own operating cable and loop. Also, by providing loops in the top reach of the cable and extending to sheaves or pulleys mounted on the doors, it will be possible to slide the doors in opposite directions; that is, one or more sets of leaves may be moved toward or away from each other relative to the center of the doorway.

I claim:

1. A horizontally slidable door, and operating means therefor comprising a pair of wheels on the door and another Wheel on the door spaced vertically from said pair of wheels, a flexible element engaged over said first mentioned wheel and having a pair of vertical reaches extending therefrom and over the wheels of said pair, respectively, and laterally from said latter wheels, and means for releasably fastening at least one of said vertical reaches to the door, whereby the door may be operated either by said flexible element or independently thereof.

2. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, comprising, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, means on the door leaf forming a loop in the cable, said means including a pair of idler wheels at the top of the door leaf, and a third idler wheel supported near the bottom of the door leaf, and manually operated means also on the door leaf and located near said third wheel for connecting and disconnecting said door leaf with one leg of the loop of the cable respectively for causing the door to be actuated by the cable or freed therefrom for manual sliding.

3. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, comprising, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, means on the door leaf forming a loop in the cable, said means including a pair of idler wheels at the top of the door leaf, and a third idler wheel supported near the bottom of the door leaf, a bracket adjustably supported on the door leaf and carrying said third wheel, means for anchoring said bracket to the door leaf to maintain the loop taut, and manually operated clamping means carried by the bracket for releasably engaging a portion of the cable loop.

4. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, including, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, means on the door leaf forming a loop in the cable and for connecting and disconnecting the door leaf with the cable, said means comprising a pair of sheaves at the top of the door, a third sheave near the bottom of the door, a bracket in which said last mentioned sheave is mounted and which consists of a pair of plates, means for adjustably anchoring said plates to the door leaf to maintain said third sheave in position to keep the cable taut, clamping means carried by said plates and having a portion of the cable loop entrained therebetween, and means for controlling said clamping means to grip and release the cable.

5. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, including, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, a pair of spaced sheaves at the top of the door leaf for guiding the cable into loop formation, a bracket including a pair of plates having offset flanges at one side, a third sheave mounted between the plates of the bracket for forming the bottom of the cable loop, said sheave having its axle journalled in the plates, a yoke suspended from said axle and adjustably connected With a horizontal frame part of the door leaf, cooperating slots and bolts respectively in the flanges of the plates and on a vertical frame part of the door leaf for anchoring the plates of the bracket to a vertical frame part of the door leaf, clamping means carried by said plates and having a portion of the cable loop entrained therebetween, and means for controlling said clamping means to grip and release the cable.

6. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, including, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, means on the door leaf forming a pair of sheaves supported at the top of the door leaf and a third sheave near the bottom of the door leaf, a pair of spaced plates forming a bracket for supporting said third sheave, means for adjustably anchoring the plates of the bracket to the frame of the door leaf, bolts for adjusting the lateral spacing of the plates, a pair of clamping bars supported on said bolts and having one leg of the cable loop entrained therebetween, and manually operated means at the end of the bars opposite their connection with the bolts for moving them into and out of gripping relation to the cable.

'7. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, including, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, means on the door leaf forming a loop in the cable, said means comprising a pair of sheaves supported at the top of the door leaf and a third sheave near the bottom of the door leaf, a pair of spaced plates forming a bracket for supporting said third sheave, means for adjustably anchoring the plates of the bracket to the frame of the door leaf, bolts for adjusting the lateral spacing of the plates, a pair of clamping bars supported on said bolts and having one leg of the cable loop entrained therebetween, fulcrum elements on the outer faces of the said bars at the end thereof adjacent the bolts and engaging the inner faces of the plates, and means at the ends of the bars opposite the fulcrum elements for moving the bars into and out of clamping relation to the leg of the cable entrained therebetween.

8. Operating and releasing means for power actuated doors, including, in combination, a slidably supported door leaf, a power driven endless cable, means on the door leaf forming a loop in the cable, said means comprising a pair of sheaves supported at the top of the door leaf and a third sheave near the bottom of the door leaf, a pair of spaced plates forming a bracket for supporting said third sheave, means for adjustably anchoring the plates of the bracket to the frame of the door leaf, bolts for adjusting the lateral spacing of the plates, a pair of clamping bars supported on said bolts and having one leg of the cable loop entrained therebetween, fulcrum elements on the outer faces of the said bars at the end thereof adjacent the bolts and engaging the inner faces of the plates, and means at the ends of the bars opposite the fulcrum elements for moving the bars into and out of clamping relation to the leg of the cable entrained therebetween, said means comprising openings in the bars, a lever having a threaded shank extending freely through said openings and having a fixed abutment engaging the outer face of one of the bars and having its threaded shank engaging a nut secured to the outer face of the other bar.

DAVID H. MORGAN. 

